Vampires? Seriously?
by Elfprinzess
Summary: ONESHOT-Merlin Emrys is an immortal being, who lives through each generation, waiting for Arthur to be reincarnated to spend a life with him, before having to watch the man die and then wait all over again. But what is different about this reincarnation?


**This is just a oneshot, about a world where Merlin Emrys is an immortal being, who lives through each generation, waiting for Arthur to be reincarnated to spend a life with him, before having to watch the man die and then wait all over again. He moves from place to place, never aging, never settling down and never making close friends, just waiting constantly for his King and his lover. He finds the man, reincarnated in a small town, but what's different about this reincarnation?**

**I don't own anything you recognise. At all.**

**Please read and review, let me know what you thought of the idea. It has probably already been done before, but I got the idea stuck in my head, wrote it out and want to post it up so i can get some feedback.**

**Enjoy **

**XXX**

Merlin Emrys was an ordinary teenager. Black unruly hair, bright blue eyes, long ungainly limbs and an awkward skinny frame. He tripped over his feet all the time, walked into things, dropped things and was overall entirely clumsy. At least, he pretended to be. He had just moved into to town, having had the need and urge to move out of his previous home and to a new one, to return to high school and start all over again.

The truth of the matter was, Merlin wasn't a teenage boy. He wasn't seventeen or eighteen or nineteen. He wasn't a pervert pretending to go back to high school and he wasn't a creep doing this for some twisted fun. He was Merlin. As in, _the _Merlin, from the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table. He was Merlin, who was a warlock and powerful and able to do spells and things and was immortal. Yep, immortal.

He walked into high school (again) and into the office, giving them his name and waiting for them to print his timetable. He had enrolled here at the end of last year, when he had been getting ready to move. He had all the documents forged, the reports, the previous school reports, the birth certificate, everything. It was quite simple after having done it several thousand times. Really, it was so much easier in the good old days, when there weren't computers and security checks and triple checks on your ID.

"There you go Mr Emrys, your first class is homeroom, which is Room 223, and then your other classes are listed. There's a map included in the forms, on the back of your timetable, if you get lost, and if you're late to class the first couple of days, don't worry about it, the teachers will cut you some slack for being new, but once you know your way around, if you're late, expect some form of punishment. We don't tolerate tardiness here. Good luck with your first day, and I hope you enjoy your time here." the secretary smiled at him, before turning back to her computer and answering the ringing phone.

Merlin walked out of the office and to his homeroom. He knocked on the door, class having started five minutes ago, and waited for the teacher to open the door.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm Merlin Emrys, I'm new." Merlin grinned at the teacher, the familiar mask slipping over his personality.

"Ah, yes, come in, come in." The teacher stepped back. "I'm Ms McAlpine, your homeroom teacher. Class, this is our new student I was telling you about." Ms McAlpine turned to Merlin, "Introduce yourself."

"Hi, I'm Merlin." Merlin waved a little awkwardly to the class.

"Take a seat." The teacher directed. She then continued with the announcements and roll call.

"Merlin!" A girl called out, waving Merlin over to the empty seat next to her. "I'm Elena." She smiled at Merlin.

"Nice to meet you."

"We'll be the best of friends."

XXX

By lunch time, Merlin was ready to drop dead from boredom. He hated repeating high school, but knew if he were to move towns and not at least 'finish' school at that place, he wouldn't be accepted, as he only looked to be eighteen, nineteen. And besides, the younger he started, the longer he could stay. That didn't stop the repeated work from being boring.

Elena sat Merlin down at her table, having had all the morning classes with him. On that table were three other people.

"Hey guys, this is Merlin. He's new." Elena introduced. "This is Freya, Mark and Simon."

Merlin hid a grin at the amount of reincarnated people he'd met so far and smiled politely at the other three, who all greeted him politely. Freya was a small, shy girl, Elena a clumsy, outspoken teen and there was also a boy in his maths class known as Matt who had a creepy stare and didn't say a word, despite Merlin's attempts at conversation.

He ate his lunch, while listening to the gossip of who broke up with who over summer, who hooked up, who cheated on who and who got together with who, all the names meaningless to him. Elena let out a sigh filled with longing and admiration and Merlin looked up to see five familiar teenagers walk into the cafeteria, all beautiful and perfect and clearly unreachable. "Who are they?" Merlin asked Elena, who didn't hear.

Mark took pity on the boy and said, "They're the richest and most unreachable family in this town. The Penn's. They're all adopted, except for one, and aside from that one, they're all together, as in couples. They all have really weird names, like old fashioned and after legends and things. The first two, the dark-skinned girl and the tall, tanned boy, they're Guinevere and Lancelot. Seriously, Lancelot. They're together. The next two, the tall, pale girl who could be a model and the man with her, they're Morgana and Gwaine. The last boy, Arthur, he's the only one not adopted, but they're all really close, like siblings, aside from the ones who are couples. Their parents, Uther and Ygraine, their names are just as weird, but I like how they're all old fashioned, and from the old legends and things."

Merlin watched as the five teenagers walked in, sat down at a table and ignored everyone else, only talking to each other. "They all live together?" Merlin asked, curious.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" Simon answered.

"None of them are related, so it's fine." Elena interrupted. "Isn't Arthur gorgeous? Completely off market though, turned down every girl who asked him out last year, his first year here, they only moved here last year, and even some of the boys who had the courage to ask."

"So, you look and stare but can't touch? Like with any abnormally beautiful people?" Merlin asked, earning a chuckle/giggle from everyone.

"Exactly."

Merlin tuned out the rest of the conversation, studying the five people. Gwen, Lance, Morgana, Gwaine and Arthur. The chances of all of them being the reincarnations of his old friends were slim, but with the same name and faces, he couldn't help but cross his fingers and hope. Especially Arthur, god he missed his King and lover.

XXX

His first class after lunch, and the first one without Elena, was English. He entered, spoke briefly with the teacher and sat down near the window. Moments later, the desk next to him was occupied. Merlin looked up and stared curiously at the blonde, beautiful boy who had sat next to him.

"You must be Merlin Emrys." He grinned.

"You must be Arthur Penn." Merlin sent back, a smile playing on his lips.

"Ah, you've heard of me, not all bad, I hope?" Arthur asked, pulling his book out and a pen in preparation for the class.

"Only that before me you were the newbie and that you are unreachable, and unattainable for any and everyone." Merlin shrugged.

Arthur winced and asked, "Who told you that?"

"Elena?"

"Ah, yes. She asked me out last year and I turned her down. I can assure, I'm not as stuck up as she has made me out to be." Arthur winked.

"But still, at lunch it seemed like you kept to yourself, so why did someone like me draw you out and cause you to talk to me?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Someone like you?"

"New, clumsy, awkward, however you want to describe me." Merlin waved a hand dismissively.

"I never said any of that." Arthur pointed out.

Merlin laughed and pulled his book out. He opened the page and jerked his hand back. "Ow, paper cut." He whined, pouting. He looked up to see Arthur leaning far away from him, hand over his mouth, looking disgusted. "I know the book is decorated badly, but it isn't that disgusting." Merlin joked, trying to hide his hurt at Arthur's reaction.

"Sorry," Arthur's voice was muffled from his hand over his mouth. "I hate blood, I get sick just looking at it. I have to go." He left, mumbling an excuse to the teacher.

Merlin stared after him in confusion before slinking down in his seat, ready for another boring lesson, slightly hurt by Arthur's reaction.

XXX

After school he walked home, ignoring the Penn's cars (the expensive, sleek, shiny ones) and the people inside them. He felt eyes watching him and his neck prickled. He refused to turn around and walked all the way home, head down and not looking behind him to see if he had a follower.

When he arrived home, he made sure to keep up his story by 'calling' his mum and talking with her for half an hour. His background story, to explain his lack of parents was that he had been bullied back home and transferred to the new school here, but his parents couldn't afford to move, so he had used his own money from his job to move, as he was eighteen and it was legal. The school had spoken to his mum (he had disguised his voice) and agreed to let him in, despite the lack of present parents. Really, being a teenager, even if he was eighteen, sucked. No one trusted you unless they could call your parents and complain.

He turned on his computer and googled Uther Penn. The results that came up were all related to lawyers and legal mumbo jumbo. So Uther was a lawyer who moved to the small town they were currently residing in. His wife was a nurse, who worked at the local hospital. Merlin grinned, it was too much of a coincidence, for these people not to be the reincarnations, so all he had to do was wait until Arthur turned 21 for his memories to return and then a few months for everyone else's and then pray Uther didn't try to kill him and he could spend a lifetime with his friends again. Brilliant. Only three years to go.

XXX

A few weeks passed. Elena, Freya, Mark and Simon were in one of more of his classes, and since Elena had introduced him to the group, they automatically included him in their groups in class. He had two classes with Arthur Penn, where in both of them they would bicker and tease and talk and exchange banter, back and forth, both enjoying themselves.

It had been nearly two months since the start of school, and Merlin was late to English, as his locker had been jammed. The teacher waved his excuses away, telling him to sit and forget about it. He sat next to Arthur in their usual seats and sent the blonde a grin which he didn't return. Merlin frown slightly at the young man but didn't get a chance to ask him what was wrong until the teacher had finished her instructions and told them to partner up for the projects.

Merlin turned to Arthur and said, "What's wrong?"

Arthur looked surprised but frowned slightly in confusion, "Nothing, why?"

"You seemed grumpy when I walked in. Did your sisters do something? Brothers?"

"No, of course not." Arthur grinned at Merlin "See, I'm grinning. I'm fine."

"If you say so."

XXX

At the end of the lesson, as Arthur and Merlin were packing up, Arthur turned to Merlin, "What do you have next?"

"A free period, I'm heading home early, I have a shift at my work."

"I've got a free too, you want a ride?" Arthur asked, but didn't wait for an answer, just lead Merlin out to his car.

"Sure, why not?" Merlin muttered under his breath, a little annoyed at not given a choice, but not really bothered by it.

Arthur grinned at him. "Get in."

Merlin climbed in. "6 Earnest street." Merlin directed the boy, who pulled out of the car park and drove off.

Just before Merlin resorted to fiddling with the radio to fill the awkward silence, Arthur spoke up, "Do you want to go out with me on Saturday?" he practically blurted out.

Merlin turned to stare at him in shock. He ran through the choices in his mind. While this was Arthur who was asking, he didn't remember any of the previous lives yet, and until his twenty first birthday, Merlin wouldn't know for sure if it was Arthur reincarnated or not. "I'm sorry, I can't." Merlin told Arthur, who's face turned stony and cold.

"Right, of course." Arthur stared straight ahead at the road.

"Arthur, it's complicated, I'm sorry." Merlin sighed, having no idea how to explain to this man that yes Merlin wanted to go out with him, but he couldn't until he remembered the truth, that he was the reincarnation of a powerful and legendary King and that Merlin was his court sorcerer, advisor and lover. Merlin had no idea how to explain that and not give away any of the truth, as he would be labelled crazy and thrown off to the loony bin.

"I understand, it's fine, you don't need to make up excuses." Arthur gritted out, obviously upset Merlin had rejected him.

Merlin took one look at his pained face and felt a rush of guilt swarm through him. "Arthur. I want to go out with you, I really do but I can't. And I can't explain why. I'm sorry."

Arthur frowned, a little confused, and as he pulled up outside Merlin's house, he turned to the boy, "So it would be a yes, except for some reason I can't know why?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, really, as cliché as this is, it's not you that's the problem, I promise." Merlin got out of the car, and Arthur lowered the window so they could still talk. "Thank you for the ride."

"You're welcome. And Merlin?" Arthur called through the window, just as the boy was about to head inside. "I'll make you change your mind." He then drove off, leaving Merlin at his door with a look of fond amusement on his face. Arthur Penn was definitely the reincarnated Arthur Pendragon, they were both stubborn, loyal prats.

XXX

A couple of weeks passed, and Arthur had been nothing but a gentleman, picking Merlin up for school, giving him a ride home, sitting with him at lunch, joking around with him, everything was normal, but every time Merlin caught Arthur looking at him, he had an intense look on his face, as if Arthur was trying to figure Merlin out.

It was a Saturday, and Merlin was sitting at home, bored. When one lived for so long, and alone, there was only so much one could do before it all became boring. He was meditating, his thoughts having drifted to the past and he was lost in memories and vivid feelings, the flash of green and gold of the crop, the shining grey of the castle, the mixture of bright colours of the nobles' dresses at a feast for something or other. The knights laughing and joking, Gwaine flirting with everyone, Leon guiding the drunk man back to his rooms when it was clear he had had too much (despite Gwaine's insistent 'there is no such thing as too much'). A sharp knock at the door drew him out of his thoughts and back into the modern world. He stood up and walked to the door, pushing back his memories and putting the eighteen year old mask back on.

"Hello?" Merlin called, opening the door to reveal Morgana Penn.

"Merlin, we need to talk." Morgana said.

"Morgana," Merlin frowned, a little worried about what was wrong. Since Merlin had become Arthur's friend, he had sat with him at lunch majority of the time, sitting with Elena some days. All of Arthur's siblings knew him, and while none of them were rude, none of them had really talked to him. "Come in." Merlin stepped back and let the girl in.

"Thank you." Morgana entered the house and Merlin led her to the kitchen.

"What's up?" Merlin asked, after offering her a drink.

"I know." Morgana started. "I know about the past, about your past, about our past lives and all the different reincarnations. I remember bits and pieces and flashes of Camelot and of my first life and I remember you. I know I was evil then,"

"You've been good several different times since, Morgana, you were only sticking up for what you believed." Merlin interrupted, dropping the eighteen year old mask when he realised Morgana knew what she was talking about.

"I know, that's not why I'm here. I can still see the future in my dreams, and I know Arthur. He's never going to tell you so I decided to step in." Morgana explained.

"What hasn't he told me?" Merlin asked, silently going through their conversations in his head in an effort to pick up on something that was wrong with the blonde.

"We're vampires."

Merlin froze.

"We've all been turned at one point in our lives; Uther and Ygraine were first, a little less than three hundred years ago. Arthur is their legitimate child and a month before his twenty first birthday he was attacked. He would've died, but they couldn't stand to lose him so they turned him too. They found all of us gradually, on the brink of death and turned us to save us. But that's the thing. Arthur stopped aging at twenty, before he remembered, even though he is two hundred and eighty three." Morgana explained. "Since he met you all he goes on about is you and how he is falling for you and he has been begging me for what the future tells me about you two and all I can tell him is it is unclear because you've got to decide whether you're going to leave, and hope he dies and then wait another hundred or so years on top of that before he is reborn," Morgana explained

"Or go tell him now." Merlin finished, already decided. "I'd be stupid to not tell him, even if he does die eventually, it could be four hundred years from now, why waste that time apart from him and the rest of you. Just, is Uther going to kill me, or just yell?" Merlin asked, causing Morgana to grin and shrug.

"Don't be silly, Arthur wouldn't let him kill you."

XXX

Morgana pulled up outside their house (mansion) and looked over to the boy, expecting him to be nervous, but found his gaze was unwavering and not a flicker of nerves in his eyes.

"Don't forget how old I am, Morgana. This is nothing compared to some of the things I have faced." Merlin told her, getting out of the car.

Morgana grinned at him and led him into the house and into the lounge room. "Family meeting, guys!" She yelled, standing in the middle.

Merlin waited to the side as the people slowly trickled in. Gwaine wrapped an arm around her waist, and Morgana sent Merlin a wink. Gwen and Lancelot appeared next, linked arms. Arthur came down stairs and stood on the opposite side of the room to Merlin, glaring at his sister.

"Where's Uther and Ygraine?" Morgana asked.

"Here, we weren't sure if the family meeting included us or just you kids because your friend is here." Ygraine spoke, entering from the kitchen with Uther in tow.

"No, family meeting means everyone." Morgana smiled at the woman and waited until they sat on the couch before starting. "OK, I don't actually know how to start this conversation, it's going to get confusing and you may not all believe us,"

"Why wouldn't they believe us, you are after all mythological creatures." Merlin interrupted.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"That probably wasn't the best way to announce your knowledge, Merlin." Morgana groaned. "But yes, everyone, this is Merlin, he knows about us being vampires. Merlin, would you like to take over?"

"Sure." Merlin grinned, as Morgana sat down, dragging Gwaine with her. Arthur was staring at Merlin in shock, while Uther was glaring at Merlin and then Morgana with anger.

"You told him?" Uther hissed to Morgana.

"Yes I did, but –" Morgana started to explain.

Uther snarled at her and interrupted her, "And now we will have to move. Your actions endangered the whole family, you cannot do these things without consulting us."

"Calm down, Uther. But he is right Morgana, you can't just tell someone our secrets, now we all have to move despite having only been here a year and a half." Ygraine tried to calm her husband.

"Will you let us explain, please?" Morgana demanded, but her voice was lost as everyone else complained about having to move again.

"We don't have to move again, if the boy is out of the picture." Uther announced, turning to glare at him.

"You lay a finger on him and I will stop you." Arthur declared, moving off the wall where he was leaning to stalk towards his father.

"I'd like to see you try." Uther growled, before moving.

Merlin rolled his eyes at the family's behaviour, his eyes flashing gold as he slowed time and watched as Uther launched himself off the couch with his inhumane speed and lunge towards the warlock. Arthur had dashed forward at the same time, but was too far behind his father to stop him. Merlin stopped time all together and calmly walked to the other side of the room, before letting time return to normal.

Everyone had leapt up with Uther, none actually wanted Merlin dead. They all stopped and stared at the empty space Merlin used to be, and then looked around confused as Uther stopped in his lunge, arms reaching out for where he had thought Merlin still was.

"Now, if you would all just let me explain." Merlin said, drawing attention to his new position.

"How did you do that?" Uther demanded.

"This is what I was trying to explain before you all interrupted." Morgana muttered.

"You don't need to move, I'm not about to tell anyone else your secret or anything, because I have my own." Merlin announced. "I'm going to tell you a story, and it is less believable then vampires, so when it gets a little ridiculous, just remind yourself that you aren't meant to exist either." Merlin informed them.

Morgana's gasp interrupted Merlin. "What is it?" Merlin demanded.

"The three vampires, they changed their course, they picked up our scent. They're heading here. they'll be here soon, it's too late to hide Merlin." Morgana spoke, staring wide-eyed at them all. "If they see him they'll attack, they're hungry."

Arthur was at Merlin's side in a moment. He slipped out of his jacket and handed it over. "Put it on, and stay behind me." Arthur ordered.

"I can look after myself." Merlin told him, slipping the jacket on anyway. "I would've thought me dodging your father would prove that?"

He was ignored as there was a knock at the door. Ygraine opened the door and let them in.

"Welcome." She spoke, politely but guarded.

The three vampires, two males and a female, nodded gracefully. "We do not mean you any ill wishes. We were merely passing through and caught your scent, and then we were curious." One of the males spoke. He was stocky and well built, obviously built like a tank, full of muscles and then made even stronger by his vampire abilities. The female had dark hair that was piled on her head and the other male had dirty blonde hair, and was less stocky, not as physically built as the other male.

"Where are you from?" Uther asked, polite and calm, a complete turnaround from the angry Uther moments earlier.

"We're nomads. We travel, and don't settle." The woman explained. "My name is Nim, this is Val and Edwin." Val was the body-builder and Edwin the other, smaller man.

"I am Uther, and this is my wife Ygraine. These are our children, Guinevere, Lancelot, Gwaine, Morgana, Merlin and Arthur." Uther introduced. "I must ask, as we have settled here, that you do not feed in the nearby vicinity, we do have to maintain discretion."

"Of course, we won't jeopardise that. We are actually on our way out, we won't bother you any longer, we merely wished to see who was in the area." Nim smirked, before turning to leave. Val followed her. Edwin turned slowly, but stopped, having smelt Merlin.

He smirked and flashed his teeth, his canine teeth elongated, "You have a pet," he hissed, his eyes dilating in hunger.

Arthur stayed in front of Merlin, while Uther hissed, "He is a part of our family. Leave."

Nim and Val pulled Edwin out the door, and Gwaine slammed it shut behind them. He watched out the window as they ran off. "They're gone, for now."

"We need to get Merlin out of here. I'll take him south, towards Leon and Percy." Arthur announced, moving to grab the keys hanging on the wall and then back towards Merlin.

"Lance, Gwaine, with me, we'll follow them, keep an eye on where they go." Uther ordered.

Ygraine and Gwen turned to Morgana, "Which way are they going to go?" Gwen asked. Everyone paused in their movements, Uther, Lance and Gwaine were heading outside while Arthur was gripping Merlin's arm, about to drag him to their garage.

Morgana shut her eyes and focused. She reopened them and stared at Merlin who grinned slightly and winked at her.

"They're going to follow Merlin." She declared.

"Shit." Arthur swore, as Merlin yanked his arm out of his grip (a little bit of magic helping him).

"I'll take care of them, don't wait up." Merlin grinned at them all and winked, before disappearing.

All of them stared in shock. "Morgana?" Arthur asked, turning to his sister, a look of fear and panic on his face.

"He'll be fine. And he'll explain when he gets back. It's what we were trying to tell you before all this." Morgana informed him.

"I don't care if you have seen him dancing and singing under rainbows and sunshine," Arthur growled, "where the fuck is he?"

Morgana sighed and shut her eyes, searching the future. She watched as Merlin waited at a river, until the three turned up. "I know where, he'll be at the river, up in the forest to the north of here." Morgana told them, keeping her eyes shut, as everyone piled into the cars and drove off, following her instructions.

XXX

She watched in her vision as the three vampires appeared out of the mist, surrounding Merlin who was standing with his back to the river.

"Well, well, well, the pet ran away from its owners pretty damn fast." Val taunted.

"He's no pet, are you, Merlin?" Edwin asked, his eyes bright and fangs elongated.

"You remember then?" Merlin asked, voice calm, not a flicker of any emotion other than calm on his face.

"Of course." Edwin hissed. "You will pay for killing me." Edwin growled and lunged forwards. Merlin lifted his hand and Edwin flew backwards, Val jumped forward, and Merlin's eyes flashed gold. The vampire burst into flames, screaming.

"Val!" Nim screamed, before attacking Merlin as well. She burst into flames in a similar method.

Edwin got back up and crept foward, eyes calculating, trying to figure out the best method of attack.

The vision slipped away and as the car drew to a halt, she opened her eyes and gasped.

"Where is he? What's happening?" Arthur asked the woman who climbed out of the car and ran through the forest. The whole family followed her and they all reached the river as Nimueh burst into flames. Morgana held Arthur back as they listened to Merlin talking.

"Leave Edwin, we both know how this is going to turn out." Merlin spoke low and calmly. His voice wasn't one of an eighteen year old teenager, but of infinite wisdom, years of experience and one you would expect to hear on a worldly, aged man, not Merlin, teenage boy.

"I will have my revenge!" Edwin screamed, lunging at Merlin. Arthur shook of Morgana's hand and jumped into the man, attacking him. He felt a rush of white hot agony shot up his neck, right as Arthur ripped the other man's head off, killing the vampire dead.

"Arthur!"

Arthur fell back, away from the body, his vision fading and his mind drifting away.

XXX

Arthur awoke and realised he was in his room, laying in his bed. And someone or something was lying on his chest. It took a single breath in to realise that the something was Merlin, who, judging by the soft snores, was asleep on Arthur's chest, body curled over the blonde while he sat in a chair next to the bed. His face was away from Arthur's, his hair spilling softly around his head slightly.

Arthur moved his free arm to softly stroke the boy's hair, but the movement woke Merlin, causing him to lift his head and stare sleepily at the blonde.

"You're an idiot, you know that, right?" Merlin told him. "There was absolutely no need for you to jump in the way and get hurt, I was about to kill him. If I hadn't been paying attention, I could've killed you instead." Merlin berated, before laying his head back down on Arthur's chest, this time with his face angled towards the blonde's face.

"You still haven't explained how you did that, and everything Morgana said you would." Arthur pointed out.

"Well no, you've been unconscious for two days." Merlin rolled his eyes. "Your whole family is ready to kill me for holding out on them because I didn't want to tell them before you."

"And what's with this change of heart? You said no to going out with me, now you're all cosy and lovey-dovey?" Arthur asked, his hand returning to stroke Merlin's hair.

"I said no because it wasn't fair on you, to go out with you when you didn't know the whole story, when you didn't remember the whole story." Merlin sighed.

"Remember? Remember what?"

"The truth. I can help you remember, which will be quicker and easier, if you want? Or I can tell the story and we can hope it jogs your memory?"

"Help me remember. But what am I forgetting?" Arthur asked.

Merlin smiled softly at him, and kissed him gently, eyes flashing gold as they shut. Arthur widened his eyes in surprise, but shut them soon after, groaning as the flash of gold induced a rush of memories, feelings, thoughts, events, history and vivid pictures. Merlin pulled away moments later, but Arthur kept his eyes shut, his hands gripping Merlin's shoulders to orientate himself as his memories returned, every life, every moment returning to him, swirling around his mind, begging for attention before settling down in his memory, to stay there.

After a few minutes, Arthur realised Merlin was stroking his face and he opened his eyes to see the warlock waiting patiently, studying the blonde in case something went wrong.

"Merlin," Arthur whispered, before grinning at his manservant, warlock and lover.

"Sire." Merlin ducked his head in a slight bow.

"Come on, time to face the music. Can you do that trick for everyone?" Arthur asked, sitting up and kicking the covers back. Merlin had stood up and offered his hand to Arthur.

"Probably not, I didn't really return your memories, I shared some of mine until yours kicked in and showed you the rest." Merlin shrugged.

Arthur took his hand and stood, his other hand coming up to trace his neck, where he had felt teeth sink into his skin and then agony.

"He tried to rip your throat out. I tried to heal it, but Uther got pissed and practically ripped me away from you. When we came back to the house and Ygraine calmed him down, I snuck up and healed you. I've been hiding out there since. I assume they knew I was there, but they left me alone. Which was probably good, I was rather angry at you. You were the idiot that nearly got himself killed before we could talk." Merlin explained.

"Did my father hurt you?" Arthur asked, as they walked out of the room and downstairs to where they knew the family was.

"It's fine Arthur." Merlin rolled his eyes and his protectiveness.

"No it's not. Did he hurt you?" Arthur demanded.

Merlin sighed and lifted the sleeve of his jacket up, revealing healing bruises on his wrist. "That's all, and on the other hand. It's fine, he didn't mean to, and he apologised." Merlin told Arthur who had snarled at the bruises and looked like he was ready to kill someone.

"It's not fine, he hurt you." Arthur growled, entering the lounge room and glaring at his father.

"I'm fine." Merlin rolled his eyes. "If you really want to hunt someone down, go hunt down Matt from school."

Arthur frowned and turned to Merlin in confusion. "What? Why?"

"He's Mordred's reincarnation." Merlin grinned.

Arthur let out a laugh, and Merlin's grin grew.

"Are you ready to explain everything now?" Gwaine asked. "Morgs is being a bitch and not saying a word."

"Of course I'm ready." Merlin snorted. Arthur moved to the couch and sat down, pulling Merlin down next to him. "Tell me, what do you all know about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?" Merlin started.

"What do those silly legends have to do with anything?" Uther demanded.

Arthur and Merlin shared a grin as Morgana snickered.

"You never once realised just how many of your names match up with characters from the stories?" Merlin asked. "Ok, well, once upon a time, there lived a peaceful warlock, living in hiding because the King at the time had banned magic. He was sent to Camelot to help his great uncle and when events played out, he became Prince Arthur's manservant, his reward for saving the prat's life."

"Hey! I'm not a prat!" Arthur interrupted.

"Shut up, you so are." Merlin grinned back. "Anyway, so after several years of attacks, plots to overthrow the kingdom, betrayal, treason, war, meetings, tournaments, yadda yadda yadda, and all that stuff, the King regretfully passed away, Prince Arthur became King Arthur, he introduced the Round Table, changed some laws, fought some battles and at the end of his rule, all seven kingdoms were existing peacefully, everyone was prospering and all that stuff." Merlin explained. "Then there was a battle, King Arthur died, and everyone mourned. One by one, the knights, the kingdom and the people died, the world changed and moved on. History continued. Everyone died, and new people arrived, tribes and settlers. Everyone died, except for one person."

"The warlock." Gwaine answered, grinning at Merlin with an idea of where this was going.

Merlin grinned back and nodded, "Yep. King Arthur's warlock, Merlin. Or, as the druids knew him, Emrys." The warlock stayed quiet as everyone put two and two together.

"Merlin Emrys." Gwen gasped, staring at him in confusion and shock.

"Yep. Now this was several thousands of years ago. A long time ago. And over that time, King Arthur and his knights and friends and enemies have been reborn, reincarnated sometimes as themselves, otherwise as other people."

"You're telling us, we're the reincarnations of the legend of King Arthur?" Lancelot asked.

"Yep, and in this case, you all look the same as your first life and have the same names. And from what I've seen, act the same." Merlin shrugged.

"You're the reincarnation of Merlin, he's the reincarnation of Arthur?" Gwaine asked, gesturing towards the two.

"No and yes." Merlin answered. "Arthur is King Arthur's reincarnation, but I'm not Merlin's reincarnation. I am Merlin. I'm immortal."

"Like us now?" Ygraine asked.

"Not really, cause you can still die. I can't, at least, not yet, not until the Old Religion allows me to."

"Old Religion?" Gwaine asked.

"Magic." Morgana and Merlin answered at the same time. "It's how I see the future, I am a Seer." Morgana explained.

"I'm the King that banned magic." Uther spoke up.

Merlin turned to Uther and nodded. "You banned magic because you believed it to be evil and wrong, and you caused The Great Purge, killing every witch, wizard and warlock."

"Why? I wouldn't have thought magic evil without a good reason, so whatever that was, how do we know it still isn't evil." Uther demanded.

"You and Ygraine were trying to have a child, but nothing worked. You went to a High Priestess for help, and she said she could give you a son, but there would be a price." Merlin started to explain. "Life cannot be given from thin air. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life. You were desperate and agreed. Nine months later, the Queen gave birth to a baby boy, but died seconds after giving birth." Merlin explained. "You blamed magic, burnt and killed at any mention of it, it blinded you, one only need to mention it and you ceased seeing reason. I always disagreed with your methods, but something had to be done, magic was getting out of hand, being exploited and sought after for personal gain, people forgot the origins of magic, the reasons people were gifted with it, learning how to gain it without being one of the Gifted. Something needed to be done, and if it traitorous of me to say so, the Great Purge was successful in doing so." Merlin spoke softly, caught up in memories. "Magic is neither good nor evil, it is the life of the world, the trees, the sun, the flowers and the animals. It is energy, harnessed to protect, gifted to those who were destined to do so. The larger the destiny, the larger the gift." He stopped talking, eyes staring at nothing, lost in memories.

"How old are you Merlin?" Morgana asked, curious.

Merlin grinned slightly, "I have absolutely no idea. It's 2012AD, so older than that. Then there is BC, and that leads back to, umm," Merlin counted on his fingers, mumbling under his breath, "We'll say 3500 years since the invasion,"

"Invasion?" Arthur asked, confused, "Which one?"

"The one 3500 years ago." Merlin grinned cheekily. "So you would've died um, a thousand, no, more than that, um, two thousand, roughly, years before that, so roughly 5500 years old." Merlin decided.

The vampires stared at him. "I thought Uther being 300 years old was ancient." Gwaine pointed out, "But shit Merlin, 5500?"

Merlin shrugged. "I probably spent about 800 years somewhere in there in a meditative sleep, I got bored with the world and wanted to skip ahead a few years."

"Yeah, you are never doing that again." Arthur ordered. "I was reborn during that period, couldn't find him and thought he'd finally croaked and wasn't coming back."

The pair shared a look of pain and remembrance.

"Wait, so you're immortal, but you're human?" Gwaine asked.

"Yep."

"And Arthur's immortal but a vampire?"

"Yep."

"That's not fair! Arthur gets to have a permanent source of food! We have to go catch ours." Gwaine whined.

"Catch yours?" Merlin asked, as if only just realising that these vampires fed off of blood.

"We either use animals in the forest, or find people in town who are too high to remember being fed off of by a vampire. We never take too much, they're always fine and we leave them near a hospital, or somewhere public in case something goes wrong." Arthur explained.

"Hey Arthur?" Gwaine asked.

"What?"

"Wanna share Merlin?"

Arthur's shocked face said it all, and Merlin burst into laughter at it as he began chasing Gwaine around the house and yard, screaming insults and threats.

Uther stepped up to the boy who immediately sobered and gave the man his full attention.

"Merlin," Uther began.

"Yes?"

"Welcome to the family." Uther offered his hand.

"Thank you." Merlin took it and they shook once, before Merlin turned back to where Arthur and Gwaine were still running around and the boy let out a laugh before slowing time and stepping in front of Arthur. He let time resume, and Arthur had no choice but to run into him. As they tumbled to the ground, Arthur's arms around Merlin to protect the human, Merlin grinned at Arthur who grinned back.

**The End**

**OK, Cheesy ending, but hey, that's the mood I'm in Who doesn't like cheesy endings? They make you all happy and everything.**

**Please review and let me know your thoughts. I hope you enjoyed the story.**


End file.
